California Business Minute™

Hi, I am Tim Johnson and welcome to the California Business Minute.

The national retail and food sales figures for March were released by the U.S. Department
of Commerce.  The numbers showed a 0.2 percent increase over the month but a 2.0 percent
increase from March 2007. 

The total retail sales for March were $381.4 billion.

The latest retail sales survey revealed an improved picture compared with February, but analysts
 say American consumers are still being pinched by the housing slump, a related credit squeeze
and surging gasoline prices. The overall rise in sales last month was supported by gasoline station
sales, which rose 1.1 percent, and Internet retailing, as online retail turnover increased 2.1 percent.

Americans meanwhile appeared to regain some of their appetite for eating out as restaurant and
cafe sales rebounded to show a gain of 0.3 percent compared with a sales decline of 0.2 percent
in February. But the lingering housing market downturn continued to weigh on consumers as home
furniture store sales declined 0.3 percent while gardening store sales dropped 0.1 percent.

I am Tim Johnson and this has been the California Business Minute.

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